I know this must be old news in Brunei by now, but just in case you are the only person in Brunei who can't get hold of the latest Prince Jefri article in the Times, here it is.(Thanks to my lousy computer skills, it looks bad but if you double click on the images, you should be able to read the whole article.)
I'm sure everyone has his or her own opinion on the whole fiasco, so there is no point for me to add anything here I think.
I'll say one thing though - Don't Mr and Mrs Derbyshire (and that Jay Maggistro guy) sound like such dodgy characters? One might even use the word "parasites". Thomas Derbyshire is a criminal barrister specialising in "fraud and money laundering".......must be a really ethical, morally straightforward kind of guy, hahaha.
This article and the people involved have made me think about some of the "downsides" of being really, really rich. I don't mean £20 million lottery winner rich, but mega-rich. You know, Bill Gates/Oprah Winfrey/royalty type rich.
Goodness knows I wouldn't turn down a million quid, but I think two problems with being super-rich are
a) Everyone is out to get a piece of you
and
b) No-one tells you the truth
Everybody wants a piece of you. When you are mega-rich, I guess you attract the kind of people who see you as a cow to be milked. There must be a kind of "well, he's got plenty more so why shouldn't I have some too?". You can see this effect when visiting some tourist-trap in a poorer country, and it seems like everyone is trying to sell you something, or con you, or both. It must be magnified a zillion times if you are richer than almost everyone on the whole planet.
No-one tells you the truth. I gather that being mega-rich means that you are constantly surrounded by yes-men, who are always laughing at your jokes, saying how handsome, how clever etc etc you are. If people tell you how fabulous you are every day, eventually you start to believe it.
I think that if you are self-made, you can probably get past all the bullshit. You can still remember what money (i.e. the paper stuff) actually looks like and you might have a few old friends who knew you "way back when".
Not that I am anti-wealth by the way. That lottery win is coming soon, I can feel it.
1 comment:
tommy derbyshire was my landlord when he was developing properties in north london. he was always involved with gangster club owners and terrified of the police. a good natured guy, but i always knew he was destined for major 'scullduggery' as he himself called it! onwards and upwards tom!
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